Tag Archives: anonymity

The Museum Hill Neighborhood Association is hosting and Ice Cream Social and Cookout on the grounds of the Wyeth Tootle.

This is an opportunity for us to meet our neighbors and for the neighbors to meet us. As we continue to be more transparent in our operation we become less threatening and more inviting. Remember, anonymity does not mean secrecy.

WHEN: July 4th, 11AM to 2:00 PM

WHERE: Wyeth Tootle grounds

Important info: Bring a covered dish. This is billed as a “cookout and fun for the kids”.

The Al-Anon WSO Facebook pages have been quite successful in reaching a broad audience. Because it is a new form of media, members have asked how they can use social media within the confines of the Legacies. A member recently asked if sharing posts is honoring Tradition Eleven.

Tradition Eleven touches on two main topics, attraction versus promotion and anonymity at the level of the media.

Members can easily maintain their anonymity by not mentioning their membership or making comments that imply membership. When people share a post on Facebook, they have the option of adding a comment. To ensure that one’s anonymity is not being compromised, members are encouraged not to use this feature.

To understand the difference between attraction and promotion, it may be helpful to remember that attraction is simply sharing information, and then letting go, allowing the other person to learn more at their own initiative rather than trying to convince someone, make promises about what the program will do, or give advice – that would be promotion.

An example of attraction is when members leave copies of Al-Anon Faces Alcoholism, Al-Anon’s public outreach magazine, in a doctors’ office. If patients are interested, they’ll pick up a copy and learn Al-Anon could help them. On the other hand, is it promotion if members try to convince someone to take a copy of Al-Anon Faces Alcoholism, or insist that they should read an article that will “really help them”.

Al-Anon’s Step Twelve encourages all members to share Al-Anon’s message of hope with others who may be suffering from the effects of a loved one’s drinking. This would be impossible without attraction.

Would you consider participating in this fellowship-wide outreach project? Find us on Facebook and Twitter by searching for “Al-Anon WSO”.

If you would like to learn more about the difference between attraction and promotion, please refer to Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual (P-24/27), p 107.